After the employee has submitted the expense report, you have checked it, and the manager has approved it with his signature, it is time to reflect the expenses in accounting and tax accounting. In words, everything is simple: paid, received, documented - written off. But, as the questions coming to our editorial office show, annoying mistakes are common. Due to the fact that expenses were reflected earlier than they should have been, or documents were not drawn up according to the rules, tax authorities assess additional taxes and fines during an audit.

If you are an entrepreneur

This article will be useful if you have hired employees and you give them money to account for. And it doesn’t matter what object of taxation you have according to the simplified tax system.

We will talk about the most common mistakes that can be made by both “simplified people” who take into account expenses and those who pay a single tax only on income. After all, correct accounting of accountable amounts affects the calculation of both the “simplified” tax and personal income tax and insurance premiums. And our recommendations, we hope, will help you resolve difficult situations correctly.

Error No. 1 The contents of the purchase are not deciphered in the sales receipt

For whom is it relevant? For all the “simplified people”. Having drawn up an advance report, the employee attached a cash register receipt for the total amount and a sales receipt. However, the sales receipt does not indicate the specific names of the purchased goods. But there is only a general name, for example “stationery worth 1000 rubles.” The cash register receipt also indicates only the total cost.

What is the problem. We do not recommend taking into account expenses on a document without names of specific goods. Let's explain why. All expenses must be documented ( clause 2 art. 346.16 And clause 1 art. 252 Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, documents should be drawn up in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. And the mandatory details of the primary document include the name and quantity of goods, works or services purchased (subclause and clause 2 of Article 9 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). For a sales receipt with a generic name of goods, this requirement is not met. After all, it does not contain the name, quantity and cost of each specific product.

True, arbitrators sometimes support taxpayers who have taken into account expenses on documents with common titles (see, for example, Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga Region dated February 3, 2006 No. A55-14012/05-32). But I would hardly want to sue over a problem that can be corrected in a timely manner. Moreover, this is relevant not only for “simplified” people who take into account expenses, but also for those who pay tax only on income. After all, if the expenses of the accountable person are not confirmed by correctly executed documents, inspectors may assess additional salary taxes.

Important circumstance

If the accountant brought a sales receipt, which indicates only the total cost of the purchase, it is better to replace such a document by contacting the seller again. Or make a decryption for the check yourself.

Note that the described problem is relevant only for the case when the cash register receipt does not contain a decoding of purchases with their value and quantity - this is when a sales receipt with decoding is required. If the cash register receipt contains the names of all goods, prices, quantities and costs, then a sales receipt is not required, since all the information necessary for accounting is already in the cash register receipt. However, not all sellers issue them, but only large supermarkets.

What to do. First, instruct employees that the seller must list all items on the sales receipt, including quantity, price, and total cost. And the accountable person is obliged to immediately control it, since this is in his interests. After all, if the tax authorities, during an audit, charge additional personal income tax on the advance, you will withhold it from the accountant’s salary.

Secondly, if the employee has already brought you documents with a generic name, ask him to go back to the store and change the papers. The seller most likely will not refuse and will rewrite the sales receipt. And the employee who had to go to the store one more time will remember what documents need to be received upon purchase.

If changing a sales receipt is problematic, there is another option. Let the accountant draw up an internal document, for example, a transcript for a sales receipt. In it he himself will write the name, quantity, price and total cost of the purchased goods. Since the document is drawn up in accordance with all the rules for a “primary” document, there should be no problems with taking into account expenses. You can see a sample of such a document below.

Error No. 2 Expenses of the accountable person were paid with someone else’s bank card

For whom is it relevant? For all the “simplified people”. Everything seemed to be in order, the employee drew up a report, attached documents for purchase and payment. But upon closer examination, you noticed that the cash register check contains the bank card details of not the accountant himself, but someone else, for example his relative. Indeed, in this case, the cash register receipt indicates the full name of the person who owns the card.

On a note

If the reporting employee paid for expenses with someone else’s card, ask him to write an explanatory note stating that he returned the money to the card owner for the purchase.

What is the problem. It would be risky to leave everything as is and accept the report only with the documents attached by the accountant. Suddenly, during an inspection, you will come across particularly attentive inspectors who will consider that the expenses paid by someone unknown have nothing to do with your company. Therefore, they should be excluded from the tax base. And include this amount in the employee’s income subject to personal income tax, and also charge insurance premiums from it.

What to do. Ask the employee to write an explanatory note. And indicate that the purchase was made by a relative or friend on his behalf. Additionally, let the accountant attach a receipt from the person whose card he paid with. In the receipt, the friend or relative will confirm that he received his money from the accountable person and has no claims. In this case, you will have evidence that the expenses were actually paid from the funds of your company issued on account. Such recommendations are given, in particular, by the financial and tax departments (letters Ministry of Finance of Russia dated October 11, 2012 No. 03-03-07/46 And Federal Tax Service of Russia dated June 22, 2011 No. ED-4-3/9876). We have provided samples of documents that will need to be completed below.

Error No. 3 You took into account expenses before you paid off the debt to the accountant

For whom is it relevant? For simplified taxation system payers with an object, income minus expenses. Quite often there is a situation where an employee received money on account, but there was not enough to pay for the purchase. So he added his own. Accordingly, according to the advance report, there was an overexpenditure.

What is the problem. Do not take into account the entire purchase amount in tax costs under the simplified system until you have paid the accountant. Let's explain why. Only paid expenses are reflected in the tax base under the simplified tax system. And they will be paid when the company has no debt ( clause 2 art. 346.17 Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If you overspend, you have a debt to the employee. Therefore, it is incorrect to take into account expenses until it is repaid.

What to do. Expenses are considered paid when you issue the overage amount to the employee. This is also confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Finance in letter dated January 17, 2012 No. 03-11-11/4. Therefore, if you have settled with the accountant, fulfilled other conditions and have supporting documents, you can write off the entire amount of expenses.

Example 1. Accounting for expenses paid by an accountable person with personal money

O.I. Grishin, who works at Polet LLC, received 2,000 rubles as a report on June 5. to buy a printer cartridge. On June 8, an employee purchased a cartridge for 2,500 rubles. (without VAT) and brought an advance report to the accounting department of Polet LLC. He attached a sales receipt and a cash register receipt for the purchase of a cartridge to the report. On June 9, the director of Polet LLC approved the report, the company capitalized the cartridge and immediately put it into operation, installing it on the printer. And on June 10, the accountant-cashier issued O.I. Grishin, the amount of overexpenditure according to the advance report is 500 rubles. (2500 rub. – 2000 rub.). When can the cost of a cartridge be included in expenses?

Polet LLC has the right to reflect the cost of a printer cartridge in material costs immediately after the property is posted and payment is made ( subp. 5 p. 1 art. 346.16 And subp. 1 item 2 art. 346.17 Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The cartridge was capitalized on June 9, and paid in full on June 10 - after the debt to the employee was repaid. According to the condition, the employee attached a sales receipt and a cash register receipt to the report. These documents are sufficient to record expenses. Therefore, on June 10, Polet LLC will enter into column 5 Accounting books cost of cartridge - 2500 rubles. The accounting entries will be as follows:

DEBIT 71 CREDIT 50

2000 rub. - money was issued against the report of O.I. Grishin;

DEBIT 10 CREDIT 71

2500 rub. - the cartridge purchased by the accountant has been capitalized;

DEBIT 20 CREDIT 10

2500 rub. - the printer cartridge is written off for production;

DEBIT 71 CREDIT 50

500 rub. - issued by O.I. Grishin the amount of overexpenditure according to the advance report.

note

Expenses for the advance report for the employer are considered paid only after you have finally paid the reporting employee ( clause 2 art. 346.17 Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

If you reimburse the amount of overexpenditure to the employee in the next quarter, to write off expenses under the simplified tax system, you can not wait for full payment, but proceed as follows. Write off the purchase price minus overruns immediately after the expense report is approved. And the rest - on the day when you pay the amount due to the employee. Of course, to account for expenses, it is necessary that there be documents confirming them and other necessary conditions are met ( clause 2 art. 346.16 And clause 2 art. 346.17 Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Mistake No. 4 You wrote off as expenses an item that has not yet arrived

For whom is it relevant? For payers of the simplified tax system with the object of taxation, income minus expenses. The employee went to the counterparty and made an advance payment for a future delivery, spending the money received on account. He must prepare an advance report. However, the accountant does not yet have documents for the purchase, since the goods have not yet been shipped to him. Therefore, he will only be able to attach to the advance report a cash register receipt, a receipt for a cash receipt order or another payment document.

What is the problem. You will make a mistake if in the tax base under the simplified tax system you reflect the money spent as an expense on the date of approval of the advance report. After all, the costs have not yet been fully confirmed; the accountant did not buy or receive anything, but only made an advance payment.

Essence of the question

The amount of advance payment paid by the employee is included in expenses only after goods, work or services have been received.

What to do. Take into account expenses in the tax base under the simplified tax system not on the date of approval of the report, but later. When the material is received, the work or services are performed, and the goods are received and then sold to the buyer (subclause and clause 1 of Article 346.16, subclause and clause 2 of Article 346.17 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). And you will have all the necessary documents in your hands.

Tips from the site site

If an employee bought something with his own money, this is not accountable

If the employee did not receive money on account, but purchased property for the company at his own expense, drawing up an advance report would be a mistake. After all, you did not give an advance to the employee. The employee will simply write a statement asking for reimbursement of his expenses. And he will attach documents confirming the purchase.. In the search bar of the “Forms” section, type “application for reimbursement of expenses.” And the document you need will appear in the first search line. By downloading it to your computer, you can make a template for employees.

If the manager approves the employee’s application, give him the required amount. Then reflect the purchase as expenses if all documents are in order and the conditions for accounting are met (Art.

Accountable amounts are funds that can be spent for business needs and production needs, to pay for services or business trips. In order to write off accountable amounts, you must strictly act in accordance with all regulatory documents on accounting.

Problems that most often arise for any accountant: what can you write off accountable amounts to and how to write off money from accounts without documents.

Procedure for writing off a sub-account

According to Art. 9 of the Law “On Accounting” No. 402-FZ, expenses for business needs must be documented. Otherwise, if the supporting papers are lost, debiting funds from the accountable person becomes impossible. the employee submits it no later than three days from the date when the money must be returned.

It is especially difficult for an accountant in a situation where the head of the enterprise takes money from the cash register and the debt grows. It must be repaid in full no later than within three years. Therefore, you need to convince the director to help sort out the accumulated amounts and reset the report. You can, of course, record management expenses as business expenses of the company, but it will be difficult to prove their validity. In addition, during the inspection it will also be mandatory to submit an advance report with invoices and checks.

Write-off methods

If the amounts are not confirmed and payment receipts do not exist, there are a number of ways you can legally write off funds. The following methods of work are usually used when preparing an expense report:

1. Submit a report along with an explanation of the situation and reasons for the loss of papers, attaching recovered documents or copies thereof, all indirect evidence found of the expediency of expenses, request duplicates of checks and receipts.
2. Subtract the required amount from the worker’s salary. If the employee cannot provide any direct or indirect evidence of expenses, an order is issued to withhold money from his salary. In this case, a receipt is required from the accountable person stating that he is familiar with the issued order and agrees with the decision to withhold. The maximum dividends that can be deducted at one time is one fifth of earnings. This is a voluntary action, otherwise legal proceedings will be required.
3. Arrange for the issuance of financial assistance, monetary incentives or gifts. Thus, according to the law, it is possible to repay funds in an amount not exceeding four thousand rubles. If this is a larger amount, you will have to additionally draw up a gift agreement and have it certified by a notary. It is not possible to write off financial assistance as expenses.

Eventually

If creditors have not claimed the debt within three years, the statute of limitations expires, and funds are written off from the off-balance sheet account by decision of the inventory commission of the institution. As part of the accounting, an act is drawn up, on the basis of which the manager issues an order to write off funds from the accountable person.

Some companies, having accumulated unwritten accountable funds on their balance sheet, give them to a temporary worker in order to delay the moment of full payment.

Accumulating debt for years is not an option; there comes a time when the account still needs to be reset. To avoid exhausting checks, it is better to have time to carry out legal write-off operations in advance.

At school, teachers constantly told us: “Don’t you dare cheat!” We nodded in agreement, but still cheated. The same thing happens at the institute. We are warned, exhorted, we nod and do our job. Almost everyone, except outright “nerds”, of course. And now we have grown up. But the habit of cheating apparently remains.

The same adult directors and chief accountants come to me, an adult tax consultant with 20 years of experience, look pleadingly into my eyes and ask: “How to write off? What to do then? Perhaps someone would answer: “Dry the crackers.” But it is not all that bad. After all, we are not talking about writing off for the Unified State Exam, but about the safe writing off of accountable money. Safe from a tax point of view. Is this even possible? Well, let's find out.

Conversation in terms of concepts

First you need to define the concepts. What are we actually talking about? Accountable amounts- this is cash issued for expenses associated with the activities of a legal entity, individual entrepreneur, employee (hereinafter referred to as the reporting person) for reporting. Today, it is allowed to transfer accountable amounts to a salary or corporate plastic card, if this is stipulated in local regulations.

All official information about working with accountable amounts is in the Rules for issuing and reporting on the use of accountable amounts, which are established by the Regulations on the procedure for conducting cash transactions with banknotes and coins of the Bank of Russia on the territory of the Russian Federation (approved by the Bank of Russia on October 12, 2011 No. 373-P , hereinafter referred to as Regulations).

How money is given out

In order to receive money, the accountable person writes an application for the issuance of cash on account. Such a statement is drawn up in any form, but it must contain: a handwritten inscription (resolution) of the manager about the amount of cash and the period for which it is issued; manager's signature; date (clause 4.4. Regulations). The first problem that an accountant faces is the prohibition on issuing money if the accountable person has debts on the amount previously received under the report (clause 4.4 of the Regulations).

We bypass this prohibition easily and gracefully: the employee returns the debt to the cashier and immediately receives the same money plus a new accountable amount. Or you can just rely on the Russian maybe: what if the Tax Service does not discover a violation within 2 months? If you are unlucky and a violation is detected during this period, you will face a fine. Or rather, two fines. In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 15.1, part 1 art. 4.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, the organization will be punished in the amount of 40,000 to 50,000 rubles, and the head of the organization from 4,000 to 5,000 rubles.

For the sake of brevity, I omit information about how cash receipts are issued and by whom they are signed.

The question is often asked about the maximum amount of cash payments within the framework of one agreement between legal entities, as well as between a legal entity and an individual entrepreneur. In accordance with the Directive of the Bank of Russia dated June 20, 2007 N 1843-U, it is 100,000 rubles, but I note that this limit does not apply to the amount that is issued for the report.

How money is returned

Now comes the most interesting part. For the amounts spent, the accountable person is obliged to submit an advance report within three working days after the expiration of the period for which the money was issued, or from the date of return to work (clause 4.4 of Regulations N 373-P). The advance report is presented to the chief accountant, accountant or manager. In this case, the accountable person is issued a receipt (cut-off part of the advance report) confirming receipt of the advance report and supporting documents.

What happens if the employee does not report within these three days? If this is a violation of cash discipline, then the organization or official may be fined for one of the violations of cash transactions, which are listed in Article 15.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. But the fact of the matter is that this list does not include violation of deadlines for submitting an advance report! This means that no one has the right to punish us for this.

By the way, the head of the organization, by his order, can set any period for which money is issued on account. For example, from 3 to 300 days. Let's say for top managers 300 days, and for everyone else - 3 days. It is your right. But it's better not to do this. After all, if there is no order, then there can be no claims regarding the deadline and return.

They scare us, but we are afraid

There is no need to be afraid that the Tax Service will charge you additional personal income tax or tax. There was a time when the Tax Service asked to withhold personal income tax from accountable amounts. This, for example, was discussed in letters from the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated October 12, 2007 No. 28-11/097861 and dated March 27, 2006 No. 28-11/23487. But now it all somehow died down.

So what do we have today? Until the organization writes off the funds issued under the report at its loss, the obligation to pay any taxes does not seem to arise.

Please note: in this situation we cannot talk about material gain. The condition for its occurrence is the conclusion of a written agreement between an organization and an individual, but the Regulations do not provide for such a method of issuing money on account. Therefore, there is no reason to accrue material benefits in the form of interest savings. Failure to return accountable amounts leads to only one thing - the employee has a debt to return the funds received from the organization on account. All! And the employee’s receipt of money in such a situation cannot automatically be considered his income. Thus, you can “suspend” the situation on the condition that neither the organization nor the individual takes any action.

How long can this last? status quo? Until the organization writes off the amount issued for the report as expenses (clause 2, clause 2 of Article 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) after the expiration of the established limitation period (3 years). Some people are trying to extend this period through paper correspondence or by returning part of the amounts ad infinitum, but now the legislator has limited the total period to ten years (clause 2 of Article 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). So after 10 years you will still have to write off these funds. Well, nothing. 10 years is a very long time. Like in that fairy tale: something will surely happen during this time. Either the padishah will die, or Khoja Nasreddin will die, or the donkey will die... That is: the legislation will change, it will be reorganized, or the recipient of accountable funds will go abroad - a fabulous number of options.

But if the organization forgives the employee’s debt and writes it off, then it will be obliged to calculate personal income tax and insurance premiums ( The Ministry of Finance of Russia in letter dated September 24, 2009 No. 03-03-06/1/610). If you do not want to pay personal income tax and insurance premiums, then you do not need to do this, since the employee’s income arises at the time of write-off.

Our court is the most humane

In controversial cases, the parties, of course, can go to court. Therefore, judicial practice is also not indifferent to us. So, our courts believe: since an individual has already been given money on account, this means that the person has already accounted for the amounts previously received. Presumption of reasonableness of a business entity. That is: it’s not fools in the organization to give money to someone who does not have the habit of reporting on its expenditure. We agree with our most humane court. We are not fools. Just a little scattered... The reports were shoved somewhere, we can’t find them. And we “fired” the diligent accountant who lost the report a long time ago. In general, consider the documents lost. An industrial accident, one might say. And our employee also lost his receipt (a cut-off part of the expense report). Well, what can we take from him! Still an individual. The main thing is not to laugh in court.

This creates an interesting legal situation. We do not deny the fact of issuing money; All advance reports have been received and there are no complaints against the employee. But these facts can only be given legal significance through the courts. Accordingly, one side will insist on such proceedings, the other will not deny anything. And if the trial proceeds according to this scheme in a warm, friendly atmosphere, you can forget about personal income tax and insurance premiums. And then the head of the organization will issue a harsh order to punish the chief accountant and restore the documents. As a punishment, you can apply a link to a seminar abroad. Such seminars are sometimes held on cruise ships. Not the Maldives, of course, but the punishment should be strict.

There is no need to be afraid of any other actions on the part of the Tax Services; the legislation does not grant them the right to make a decision on changing the legal qualifications of the transaction. Only the court has this right. To re-qualify the transaction, they must go to court. Which is very long and almost impossible.

There is, of course, another problem. This is when the accountable amount reaches astronomical proportions, which will not brighten the balance sheet of the enterprise and will constantly attract the interest of the Tax Service, starting with letters about your liquidation due to a lack of net assets. But this is a topic for another discussion.

Accountable findings

Let's summarize. If you want to avoid taxation of the amounts issued on account for as long as possible, then do not write them off, just keep them as debt. It is almost impossible to punish you for continuing to issue money on account to the same person in the future. If the time has finally come to write off everything, then let your accountable person return all the money, and you give it to the employee who works for you “temporarily”. After the expiration of the statute of limitations or immediately after the expiration of the reporting period, you can arrange a friendly lawsuit with such an employee.

Enjoy it to the fullest. The law is on our side, and so is judicial practice. We are not afraid of the tax inspector. In this particular case, of course...

“Accountant Consultant”, 2002, No. 2

As experience in conducting audits shows, the accounting records of many enterprises include accounts receivable from many years ago in accounts 60 “Settlements with suppliers and contractors”, 62 “Settlements with buyers and customers”, 71 “Settlements with accountable persons”, 73 “Settlements with personnel for other transactions", 76 "Settlements with other debtors and creditors". Part of the total amount of debt is overdue, the other part is unrealistic for collection. According to current legislation, if accounts receivable are subject to write-off for financial results, then they should be written off - otherwise the net profit is distorted, which directly affects the interests of the owners (shareholders), and the balance sheet of the enterprise also becomes unrealistic.

1. Write-off of receivables from buyers and customers for financial results

Accounts receivable are formed as a result of a discrepancy between the moment of shipment and payment of products, provision of services, or performance of work. Unfortunately, in Russian economic reality, there are often cases of failure to fulfill the obligation to pay for the delivered products (services provided, work performed) within the terms specified in the contract due to the insolvency, reorganization or liquidation of the buyer. Thus, doubtful debts are formed in the settlement accounts.

Doubtful debt is an organization's receivables that are not repaid within the time limits established by the agreement and are not secured by appropriate guarantees.

Clause 77 of the Accounting Regulations establishes that debts that are unrealistic for collection are written off for each obligation based on the inventory data, written justification and order (instruction) of the head of the organization and are charged accordingly to the account of the reserve for doubtful debts or to the financial results of a commercial enterprise. organization, if in the period preceding the reporting period, the amounts of these debts were not reserved. In addition, it has been established that writing off a debt at a loss due to the insolvency of the debtor does not constitute cancellation of the debt. This debt must be reflected on the balance sheet for five years from the date of writing off the debt in order to monitor the possibility of its collection in the event of a change in the debtor's financial situation. The Chart of Accounts (Instructions for using the Chart of Accounts) provides for these purposes account 007 “Debt of insolvent debtors written off at a loss.”

Identification of receivables subject to write-off for financial results

Doubtful debts are identified during an inventory of accounts receivable. The inventory of accounts receivable is carried out in accordance with the Methodological Guidelines for the Inventory of Property and Financial Obligations, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 13, 1995 N 49. To register the results of the inventory, a unified form N INV-17 is provided "Act of Inventory of Settlements with Buyers, Suppliers and other debtors and creditors" (approved by Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated August 18, 1998 N 88 "On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for accounting of cash transactions, for accounting of inventory results", taking into account the changes and additions made).

According to the indicators of this form, accounts receivable are divided into confirmed, unconfirmed and debt with an expired statute of limitations.

The procedure for identifying receivables to be written off for financial results.

Accounts receivable that are unrealistic for collection may arise as a result of:

• liquidation of the debtor;
• "hanging" money in a problem bank;
• expiration of the limitation period without confirmation of the debt on the part of the debtor.

Liquidation of the debtor

In the process of conducting an inventory of settlements, it may turn out that when asked to confirm the debt according to the reconciliation report, the counterparty - the debtor - will report that it is being liquidated or has already been liquidated. During liquidation, a bankruptcy estate is formed on the basis of the debtor's property, intended to satisfy the claims of creditors. As a rule, it is not enough to satisfy the requirements of all creditors. According to Article 64 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a creditor enterprise that has receivables for shipped products or an advance issued for the supply of products is a fifth-priority creditor. If the bankruptcy estate is not enough to pay off the receivables, then the creditor company is obliged to write off the receivables as financial results, but only after the legal liquidation of the debtor. Paragraph 8 of Article 63 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation states that “the liquidation of a legal entity is considered completed, and the legal entity is considered to have ceased to exist after making an entry to this effect in the unified state register of legal entities.” The primary document on the basis of which unrecoverable receivables are written off can be a ruling by an arbitration court on the completion of bankruptcy proceedings and liquidation of the debtor.

Money stuck in a problem bank

The instability of the banking system, unfortunately, is one of the distinctive features of the Russian economy. The experience of conducting audits shows that accounts receivable are found on accounts payable to suppliers, resulting from money being “stuck” in a problem bank. If there has been no legal liquidation of the bank and its restructuring is envisaged, then it is advisable to create a reserve for doubtful debts for the amount of debt and monitor the possibility of the bank restoring its solvency. If the arbitration court rules on the liquidation of a problem bank and its property is not enough to pay off the receivables, then such debt is recognized as unrecoverable and must be written off as financial results.

Expiration of the statute of limitations

The limitation period is a period within which a court of general jurisdiction, an arbitration court or an arbitration court is obliged to provide protection to a person whose right has been violated.

According to Article 200 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the limitation period, in general, begins from the day when the person learned or should have learned about the violation of his right. According to Article 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the limitation period is three years, but can be extended in accordance with Article 203 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation: “the limitation period is interrupted by filing a claim in the prescribed manner, as well as by the obligated person performing actions indicating recognition of the debt. After a break, the limitation period begins anew; the time elapsed before the break is not counted towards the new period.”

In general, the beginning of the limitation period for repayment of receivables is the first day of delay in fulfillment of obligations. The deadlines for fulfilling obligations are fixed in the contract. If the contract stipulates that payment for the products by the buyer must be made within 30 days from the date of shipment of the products by the supplier, then the limitation period in case of non-payment for the delivered products begins from 31 days after the products are shipped to the buyer. In this case, the receivables will become overdue.

Overdue accounts receivable are, in essence, the immobilization of the enterprise’s assets, the removal of part of the assets from economic circulation. The accounting department of an enterprise must strictly monitor the structure of overdue accounts receivable and work to collect it. Financial methods of influencing debtors to collect overdue receivables are: drawing up debt reconciliation acts, applying penalties, proposals for offsets, selling debt, initiating bankruptcy proceedings for an insolvent debtor. If the statute of limitations has expired and it is not possible to collect the receivables, despite the measures taken by the creditor enterprise to collect them, then such debt must be written off against the financial results of the enterprise.

Amounts of receivables for which the statute of limitations has expired and other debts that are unrealistic for collection are non-operating expenses based on clause 12 of PBU 10/99.

In accounting, non-operating expenses, including amounts of receivables for which the statute of limitations has expired, are reflected in the debit of account 91 “Other income and expenses”, subaccount 91-2 “Other expenses”.

The write-off of receivables that cannot be collected due to the liquidation of the buyer-debtor or the expiration of the statute of limitations must be reflected in the accounting records by the following entries:

• debit of account 91, subaccount “Other expenses” credit of account 62 - writing off receivables that are unrealistic for collection on financial results;

If an unrecoverable receivable was formed as a result of the bankruptcy of a bank that was instructed to make a non-cash payment, for example, for an advance to the seller for upcoming deliveries of products, then in accounting these business transactions will be reflected in the following entries:

• debit of account 60, subaccount “Settlements for advances issued” credit of account 51 “Settlement accounts” - the formation of receivables due to the transfer of an advance on account of the shipment of products (provision of services, performance of work);
• debit of account 91, subaccount "Other expenses" credit of account 60 - write-off of receivables that are unrealistic for collection on financial results.

Creation and use of reserves for doubtful debts

In accordance with clause 70 of the Accounting Regulations, an organization can create reserves for doubtful debts for settlements with other organizations and citizens for products, goods, works and services, attributing the amounts of reserves to the financial results of the organization.

Therefore, if there is still some probability of collecting an overdue debt, then it is advisable to create reserves for doubtful debts for settlements with organizations and citizens for products, goods, works and services, with the amounts of reserves attributed to the financial results of the organization.

The amount of the reserve is determined separately for each doubtful debt, depending on the financial condition (solvency) of the debtor and the assessment of the likelihood of repaying the debt in whole or in part. A reserve is formed when a debt is recognized as doubtful based on an inventory of calculations and an order from the manager. The Chart of Accounts (Instructions for using the Chart of Accounts) provides account 63 “Provisions for doubtful debts” to summarize information on the creation of reserves for doubtful debts. For the amount of the created reserve, an entry is made in the debit of account 91 and in the credit of account 63. When writing off unclaimed debts that were previously recognized by the organization as doubtful, entries are made in the debit of account 63 in correspondence with the corresponding accounts for settlements with debtors.

In accounting, the creation and use of a reserve for doubtful debts must be reflected in the following entries:

• debit of account 62 credit of account 90 "Sales", sub-account "Revenue" - the formation of receivables due to the shipment of products (provision of services, performance of work);
• debit of account 91, subaccount “Other expenses” credit of account 63 - a reserve has been created for the amount of debt recognized as doubtful;
• debit of account 63 credit of account 62 - unrealistic receivables were written off at the expense of a previously created reserve;
• debit of account 007 - the supplier’s debt, written off at a loss, is reflected in the off-balance sheet account.

Taxation of receivables written off to financial results

Let's consider the features of taxation of receivables from counterparties, written off to the financial results of the enterprise, with value added tax. If the taxpayer calculates revenue for value added tax purposes “on shipment,” then his tax obligations arise at the time of shipment of the product to the buyer. Accounts receivable are formed due to a mismatch between the moment of payment and the moment of shipment. Therefore, in this case, it does not matter whether the revenue is paid or not, because the obligations to pay taxes must be fulfilled at the time of shipment of goods (work, services) to the buyer.

If the taxpayer calculates revenue for the purpose of assessing value added tax “on payment”, then at the time of writing off receivables for financial results, he has an obligation to pay value added tax to the budget. Clause 5 of Article 167 of Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that “in the event of failure by the buyer to fulfill, before the expiration of the limitation period, the right to demand the fulfillment of a counter-obligation related to the delivery of goods (performance of work, provision of services), the date of payment for goods (work, services) ) the earliest of the following dates is recognized:

1. the day of expiration of the specified limitation period;
2. the day the accounts receivable are written off."

Thus, writing off accounts receivable for financial results due to the expiration of the statute of limitations or liquidation of the debtor for VAT purposes is equivalent to payment.

Losses from the write-off of accounts receivable that have expired or are unrealizable for collection are accepted for profit tax purposes. In accordance with clause 2 of Article 265 of Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, “for the purposes of this chapter, losses received by the taxpayer in the reporting (tax) period are equated to non-operating expenses, in particular: amounts of receivables for which the statute of limitations has expired, as well as amounts other debts that are unrealistic to collect..."

Example 1. On January 10, 1998, enterprise “A” supplied enterprise “B” with 4 cars worth 360 thousand rubles, including VAT, and enterprise “B” 3 cars worth 270 thousand rubles, including VAT. According to the agreement, payment for the cars must be made within 30 days from the date of their shipment to the buyer. Enterprise "B" did not make payment on time. For 3 years, enterprise "A" tried to collect the overdue debt, but to no avail. Enterprise "B" also did not make payment on time and a year after purchasing the cars from enterprise "A" the arbitration court declared it bankrupt.

The accounting policy of enterprise “A” provides for the calculation of revenue for VAT purposes “on payment”. No reserve for doubtful debts was created. Enterprise "A" switched to the new Chart of Accounts on January 1, 2001.

Let's determine the moment of writing off the receivables of enterprise "A" for financial results, and also determine what tax obligations arise in this case.

#	Operation	Debit	Credit	Amount (thousand rubles)
1	01/10/1998 shipment of 4 cars to enterprise “B”	62	46	360
2	01/10/1998 shipment of 3 cars to enterprise "B"	62	46	270
3	01/10/1998 VAT was charged on shipment to enterprise “B” (RUB 360,000 x 16.67%)	62	76, subaccount "VAT"	60
4	01/10/1998 VAT was charged on shipment to enterprise "B" (RUB 270,000 x 16.67%)	62	76, subaccount "VAT"	45
5	On January 10, 1999, the receivables of enterprise “B” were written off as financial results due to its liquidation	80	62	270
6	01/10/1999 VAT was charged to the budget on the debt of enterprise "B" (based on clause 5 of Article 167 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)	76, subaccount "VAT"		45
7	On January 10, 2001, the receivables of enterprise “B” were written off as financial results due to the expiration of the statute of limitations	62	90, subaccount "Revenue"	360
8	01/10/2001 VAT was charged to the budget on the debt of enterprise “B” (based on clause 5 of Article 167 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)	76, subaccount "VAT"	68, subaccount "Calculations with the budget for VAT"	60
9	01/10/2001 the debt of enterprise “B”, written off at a loss, was reflected off the balance sheet	007		360

2. Write-off of employee receivables for financial results

Write-off of accounts receivable for accountable persons

In practice, a situation occurs when an employee of an enterprise quits without reporting the funds he previously received for travel expenses, business and other needs of the enterprise. As a result, a debit balance is formed on account 71, which is carefully rewritten by accountants from month to month, from year to year.

Upon dismissal, the employee is required to fill out a bypass sheet, which includes notes from all services and departments of the enterprise that he does not owe anyone anything and that he has been paid for everything. The accounting department also makes a note on the worksheet after full settlement with the employee.

It should be recalled that according to clause 11 of the Procedure for conducting cash transactions in the Russian Federation (Letter of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation dated October 4, 1993 N 18) “persons who received cash on account are obliged no later than 3 working days after the expiration of the period for which they issued, or from the day of their return from a business trip, submit a report on the amounts spent to the accounting department of the enterprise and make a final payment for them.”

However, sometimes an employee is fired without making a final payment to him. If, due to the fault of the accounting department, the final settlement with the employee has not been made, then it is unlawful to write off the receivables on account 71 for financial results; it must be recovered from the accountants if they violated the procedure for issuing money on account and did not take appropriate measures to repay them. If the final settlement with the employee is not made as a result of other reasons (not through the fault of the accounting employees) and in court or in some other way (for example, in the event of the death of an employee), it is not possible to recover amounts of money from resigned employees, then if there is a court decision on the impossibility of collecting the debt, it is written off to the financial result: debit account 91, subaccount “Other expenses” credit account 71 - the debt of resigned employees according to advance reports is written off, which is unrealistic for collection. In the absence of a court decision, debt can be written off only after three years. For the company this is a loss, but for such an employee it is his personal income.

And if this is his income, then it is subject to personal income tax. In this case, the company acts as a tax agent. Clause 1 of Article 24 of Part 1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that “tax agents are persons who, in accordance with this Code, are entrusted with the responsibility for calculating, withholding from the taxpayer and transferring taxes to the appropriate budget (extra-budgetary fund).” The enterprise is not able to calculate and pay the amount of income tax to the budget on its own, since the income was actually received by the resigned employee. Moreover, according to clause 9 of Article 226 of Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, “payment of tax at the expense of tax agents is not allowed.” Therefore, the accounting department of the enterprise must submit to the tax office a certificate of income of an individual in Form 2-NDFL indicating that the individual has received income in the form of unclaimed debt on advance reports.

Example 2. An employee was given 1000 rubles. under the report for the purchase of cartridges. The employee purchased a cartridge and submitted a cash receipt and an invoice in the amount of 800 rubles to the accounting department. He still owed 200 rubles. The next day the employee did not show up for work. The final payment to the employee has not been made. The company went to court and found out that the former employee had emigrated abroad, and therefore received a decision that it was impossible to collect the debt from him.

Write-off of outstanding employee loans

The legal relations of the parties under the loan agreement are regulated by Chapter 42 “Loan and Credit” of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. According to clause 1 of Article 807 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, under a loan agreement, one party (the lender) transfers into the ownership of the other party (borrower) money or other things determined by generic characteristics, and the borrower undertakes to return to the lender the same amount of money (loan amount) or an equal amount other things he received of the same kind and quality.

A loan agreement between an organization and an individual must be concluded in writing, regardless of the loan amount (clause 1 of Article 808 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

To record settlements with employees of the organization for loans provided to them, the Chart of Accounts provides for account 73 “Settlements with personnel for other operations”, subaccount 73-1 “Settlements for loans provided”. The amount of a loan provided to an employee of an organization in cash is reflected in the debit of account 73, subaccount 73-1 “Settlements on loans provided,” in correspondence with account 50 “Cash,” subaccount 50-1 “Cash of the organization.” Thus, when transferring the loan amount to an employee in cash from the enterprise’s cash desk, account 73 creates a receivable.

The employee may quit and not repay the loan. In this case, the company must defend its right to collect the debt in court. However, this may not help pay off receivables. If all possible ways of influencing the debtor have been exhausted and it is not possible to collect the debt (in this case, a court decision to refuse is mandatory), then it is written off to the financial results: debit account 91, subaccount "Other expenses" credit account 73, subaccount 73-1 " Settlements on loans provided" - the debt is written off and cannot be collected.

In this case, it is necessary to submit information to the tax office about the income received by the individual, which will consist not only of unpaid debts, but also of material benefits. In accordance with clause 1 of Article 212 of Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxpayer’s income is “the material benefit received from savings on interest for the taxpayer’s use of borrowed (credit) funds received from organizations or individual entrepreneurs.”

Example 3. An employee entered into an interest-free loan agreement for a period of three months, according to which he received 10,000 rubles from the company’s cash desk. A month later the worker disappeared. Attempts to find him were unsuccessful. The management of the enterprise went to court, which ruled that it was impossible to collect this debt.

At the same time, immediately after writing off the debt for financial results, the company submits information to the tax office about the income received by the individual, including material benefits from interest.

Andrey Viktorovich Komarov
Director of ACF "Central Federal District"

According to the balance, there is a debit balance on account 71 Accountable persons. It is not possible to withhold the debt amount. Is it possible to transfer the balance to account 73, or what is the right thing to do in this situation.

Debit 63 Credit 71 – accounts receivable are written off at the expense of the created reserve.

The rationale for this position is given below in the materials of the Glavbukh System

1.Situation:How to take into account accountable amounts not returned on time for taxation

Since the organization does not incur expenses when issuing accountable money to an employee, and does not receive income when returning accountable amounts, such amounts are not taken into account when calculating taxes.

This applies to both organizations that apply the general taxation system (clause 14 of article 270, clause 3 of article 273 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), and those who pay a single tax under simplified conditions or UTII (clause 2 of article 346.17, clause 1 Article 346.29 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The amounts issued against the report are the employee's receivables until he submits an advance report, attaching documents confirming the expenses incurred, and deposits the balance of the unused amount into the cash register. This follows from the instructions approved by Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated August 1, 2001 No. 55.

If an employee does not return the unspent accountable amounts on time, the organization’s accountant can withhold the amount of debt from the employee’s salary ().*

However, since the funds issued on account to the employee are not an expense, then if the receivables are not repaid on time, the organization does not generate income. This is true for all organizations, regardless of the tax system applied. This conclusion can be drawn from the provisions, articles, of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Nina Kovyazina,

2.Situation: how to determine the date when an organization can write off, due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, accountable amounts that are attributed to the resigned employee

To determine the day when you can write off unclaimed imprest amounts, use the following methodology.*

1. Set the date from which the statute of limitations begins.

The limitation period must be counted from the day following the date on which the employee was supposed to repay the debt (). For example, if an employee was supposed to return the accountable amount on October 5, count the statute of limitations from October 6. After all, an employee’s debt for accountable amounts refers to obligations with a certain deadline. The employee must repay the debt no later than three working days after the period for which he was given the money expires (when sending an employee on a business trip - no later than three working days after the day of his return) (clause 26 of the regulation approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated October 13, 2008 No. 749). Consequently, the limitation period for accountable amounts that the employee did not return and for which he did not report, begin to count at the end of the period for which the money was issued (Clause 2 of Article 200 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

2. Count three years from the start date of the limitation period.

For obligations in the form of unreturned accountable amounts, the statute of limitations is three years (). The legislation does not establish a special limitation period for this case (clause 1 of Article 197 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, the limitation period will end on the day it began, only three years later (paragraph 1, paragraph 1, article 192 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, take into account the circumstances that may serve as a reason for interrupting the limitation period. After the break, the limitation period begins to count again ().

Thus, after the expiration of the limitation period, the debt on the accountable amount can be considered uncollectible and written off in accounting (clause 14.3 of PBU 10/99) and when calculating income tax (subclause 2, clause 2, article 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated August 8, 2012 No. 03-03-07/37, dated September 15, 2010 No. 03-03-06/1/589).*

Nina Kovyazina,
Deputy Director of the Department of Education and
human resources of the Russian Ministry of Health

Accounting

Write off the amount of debt against the reserve for doubtful debts.

In accounting, reflect the write-off of accounts receivable from the reserve for doubtful debts by posting:*

Debit 63 Credit 62 (58-3, 71, 73, 76...)
– accounts receivable are written off at the expense of the created reserve.

Writing off receivables for which the statute of limitations has expired, or other debts that are unrealistic to collect, does not constitute cancellation of the debt. Therefore, within five years from the date of write-off, reflect it on the balance sheet in account 007 “Debt of insolvent debtors written off at a loss” (Instructions for the chart of accounts):

Debit 007
– written off receivables are reflected.

During this period, monitor the possibility of its collection if the debtor’s property status changes (clause 77 of the Regulations on Accounting and Reporting).

Sergey Razgulin,
Actual State Councilor of the Russian Federation, 3rd class